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National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer's Association Lead Effort to Update Diagnostic Criteria for Alzheimer' Disease

March 14, 2017

Scientists at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease 2010 (AAICAD 2010) today presented the first draft reports from three workgroups convened by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Alzheimer's Association to update the diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease for the first time in 25 years.

The current criteria for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's were established by a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)/Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association (ADRDA) workgroup in 1984. These criteria were almost universally adopted and have been useful; they have survived intact without modification for more than 25 years. However, experts note, the field has evolved to a great extent since then.

"Important scientific discoveries have been made in Alzheimer's, and there have been significant changes in our knowledge and conception of the disease," said Creigton H. Phelps, PhD, Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Centers Program, Division of Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health. "The NIA and the Alzheimer's Association, after consultation with the Alzheimer's scientific and medical community, concluded that the diagnostic criteria may need to be revised to incorporate scientific advances...